That’s too bad. Let’s pull for animal control, then.
I tried calling Animal Control when I bought two abused bunnies from a pet store in a mall. They told me that they had no control over pet stores in malls. I hope you have better luck than I did with them.
$14,000 for a bird? Albeit, a very rare and beautiful creature, but $14 G`s?
Is this store in a location that would attract the sort of costumer with that kind of coin?
I can`t believe they would hang on to that kind of overhead for two+ years.
I do feel for your situation. It`s no different than a pet store mistreating puppies, cats, fish, etc.
Perhaps writing a letter to the editor of your local paper would get her attention. One more thought. Would it be possible for you to offer your services for maybe an hour or so each week to educate the employees about proper bird care?
FYI - South Carolina is one of the states which has no laws which regulate the sale of pets in pet shops. Very sad.
Well, like I said, from a good breeder they are 8 or 9 grand. The area isn’t poor or anything, and they do sell a LOT of birds in the 1000 -1500 dollar range, but my feeling is that they sell these birds to people who are very new to the game.
Plus, the way they have the sign worded (she is more sensitive to germs, blah)
they make her sound like some kind of hot house flower. That plus the 14k isn’t making for good sales. I asked once (about a year ago) if they would sell her for $12K without the cage (I would have a larger stainless steel cage made) and they said no.
I do the same thing at petstores, only with the snakes. Luckily, the petstore around here that sells snakes actually listens to me.
“That snake has ticks on its eyes.”
“Really? Oh, okay.” Takes it to the back.
“Those snakes need a hide, otherwise they’ll become very stressed and nippy.”
“Really? Oh, okay.” Gives them a hide.
“Those snakes are having really bad sheds. No one will want to buy an ugly snake. They need a bigger water bowl.”
“Really? Oh, okay.” Gives them a bigger water bowl.
I’ve talked to a few employees about how I think they should carry captive bred Ball Pythons, and last time I was there, they were carryin CB’s. Doubt it was because of me, but it still made me happy. And they’re now $90 for a hatchling, which I think is a good thing, so fewer kids impulse buy a BP, only to have it end up in rescue in 2 years. And any snakes they sell come with a 4 page caresheet (I bought on beauty there - high orange with an almost omplete stripe).
Tho’ it was fun when they got wild caught in, because you could find some real beauties (They had a B&W BP that may have been an axanthic [worth GOBS], but they sold it a day before I got there).
Good luck with the birds. If SPCA suck, call the news.
I do behavior consulting for birds and birdsitting (just word of mouth usually). I did take in some business cards a long time ago and told them if they wanted to that they could give one to each customer who bought a bird there and that I would do a free 1 hour consultation with the customer/bird. No-one ever took me up on that.
Excuse the slight hijack, but I noticed you mentioned PetSmart as if it is not a particularly good place to patronize. Is there a reason? I have also seen billboards around my area lately encouraging a boycott (or maybe I am confusing them with PetCo) but I have never heard anything bad about them and wondered if anyone knew what the story was.
I shop there often and always thought they were a good place to support since they don’t sell pets (except small caged pets and birds) and they have adoption days that help local shelters adopt out their dogs and cats. Am I wrong? I won’t shop at Pet Stores that sell cats and dogs because I don’t want to support puppy mills. I admit I am pretty ignorant about birds, so if they are not treated well there I would not have noticed unless it was blatantly horrible.
My other option in my area is Pet Supplies Plus, are they any better?
That’s a shame, what a nice service that would have been for the customers. You sound like you have a good heart, you should do well here.
alisam, I live in the same area. I know exactly which pet store you are referring to. This would be the same pet store that offered to sell me two hamsters because “one would get really lonely”. Hello? Hamsters are solitary animals!
Have you tried talking to your vet about the situation? Maybe the vet would be willing to try and talk some sense into them? Simply give them a few helpful suggestions?
Oh, and welcome to the boards. I can tell you’ll have no problem fitting in here. 
Hi Velma,
Petsmart is somewhat difficult for me to classify…let me explain.
Petsmart is corporately controlled. Each store goes by corporates rules, but the quality of each store is completely variable. The Petsmart in my town falls on the good side, at least when it comes to birds. Another Petsmart within 50 miles is awful with their birds. It comes down to individual store management, but because they are ALL controlled by corporate, shopping at one or shopping at another hits corporate pocketbook moreso than a franchise would, so I try to avoid shopping there at all.
Petco, Petland, Pet Supplies Plus, and I believe Superpetz stores are franchise owned stores. The franchise owned stores still have corporate rules to follow, and still vary in quality depending on management. However hitting a franchise store in the pocketbook impacts them more than shopping at a petsmart. I have seen poor management in all three stores, and EXCELLENT management at one 2 Petco stores (no matter where I go, on business when I was working, or for pleasure, I check out the local stores). The two great Petcos were in Atlanta and Columbus, OH. I saw a really awful Petco in San Francisco (Alameda? I don’t remember).
Anyway, my point is. Given 3 stores, a well run Petsmart, a well run Petco, and a well run individually owned petstore, I would shop at the individual store first, Petco second, and Petsmart third. If all three sucked, I would try ebay or another online store. For my birds, I generally shop online at a store run by a sanctuary. For fish supplies, a store 1.5 hours away. For horse stuff a great store 2 hours away.
One of the hardest things to swallow is that dog and cat people (to make a sweeping generalization) really don’t have much options when it comes to buying a name brand food if that is what they wish to feed. I can’t expect anyone to buy a 50 lb bag of dog food online and pay shipping. So often the only option is to buy at a store that otherwise might suck. Dog/cat food has a small markup, but is a huge portion of profits because of volume. And most owners have few options, other than a vet (where they have to mark it up more because they don’t get the volume), or a store that they might not otherwise patronize. If dog and cat people were aware of what constitutes poor fish, bird, reptile, small animal care and refused to shop at (for example) a bad Petco, it would hurt the store.
In my idealistic head, if enough people didn’t buy their dog/cat food at (for example) Petsmart, and they made it a point to tell the store WHY…dead fish, sick birds, etc., perhaps corporate would make changes. It is dog and cat owners who will make a change at Petsmart corporate, not bird people. Petsmart buys their birds, in bulk, from Kaytee Preferred birds. The majority are budgies (parakeets) and cockatiels. The volume they buy makes them very cheap with a big markup. If they die, they’ll give you another one. It just doesn’t cost them much to do so. The double whammy there is that they sell mostly Kaytee bird foods (plus their own brand, which I THINK is also manufactured by Kaytee), so buying birds/supplies there does give the store a good profit, but still does not approach the profit from dog and cat food. Personally, if I had a dog or cat, I would either feed eukanuba or iams (sold in grocery stores) or buy from a vet. However I don’t know much about the “morality” as I call it of Iams, so if I were more educated on dog/cat food, I might have to change my mind, :0.
Sorry, I NEVER have a short answer for anything. Be glad you’re not married to me.
Alisa
Greywolf,
But they are mammal “experts”. Surely they know better than you? 
Interestingly, my vet is the vet they use (at least they used to use her). They state on their website that the large birds are vet checked and vaccinated. At one point in the past (3 or so years ago), after I bought the african grey there, this came up with my vet, because she had initally seen the bird when they still owned it and had done the vet check and vaccinations. The bird appeared normal at that time.
I have since ranted about the hyacinth there to her, and she has not seen that bird, so they either are not using her for all their large birds, or maybe not at all anymore, I didn’t ask her as she couldn’t tell me anyway. She has not been in the store, so her confronting them on conditions in the store would be a sticky situation. AFAIK, I’m the only one complaining to her about them. Even if she did see the hyacinth out of context (in her office), there is not much outwardly wrong with her (needs a bath, appears stunted, but there’s nothing to do about that now). It is just the conditions she is kept in (no toys, 2 perches, incorrect feed for that type of bird) that in my opinion are wrong (I know she would agree with me).
Even so, if she did go into the store (unlikely, I think), her commenting on the situation would IMHO alienate the owners (if they still use her) and that wouldn’t do any good either.
Alisa
Oh, I can totally feel you on this. I don’t know much about birds, but I am chock full of information about rabbits. I see so many mistreated rabbits it breaks my heart. I work in a vet clinic and the vet there that treats rabbits doesn’t even know what she’s doing… (actually, I think she’s just out of date and hasn’t caught up and I know I’m not a vet, but I have confirmed my suspisions with someone who knows infinitely more than I do.) It’s very frustrating to see all the cruelty and to be ignored when simply trying to educate.
To help myself feel better about the whole situation, I joined the House Rabbit Society and volunteer whenever I can. Maybe there’s a similiar society when it comes to birds?
To the OP,
You have CORNERED people in the parking lot before about how to take care of a cockatoo?
What do you hold them at bay, and bark orders? “This bireats seed and drinks water! Don’t feed it anything else. Change the water everyday because the bird poops in it quite often! Keep away from cats and children! Clean the cage at least once a day, because the bird is too dumb to distinguish his home from the toilet! Do you understand! Do you have a clue now!”
You know Robert Blake had a cockatoo on Baretta. He killed his wife and the bird is probably dead now, so now that’s a moot point.
And I bet they were grateful too.
Er, so on-screen bird ownership=homicidal impulses…you must have been hell in your jr. high debate team.
Sorry, I’ll stop feeding the troll, but it’s that defensive attitude that can make animal rescue and welfare education such a frustrating and heartbreaking experience.
As to the OP, I have the same affliction. I can’t help but go into a pet store with puppies in the window, because I tell myself, maybe they are working with rescue. I see the signs for payment plans (“as low as $18 a month!”) and the signs promising a refund if the dog dies of a congenital defect within ten days of purchase, and “protect your investment” insurance plans for if the dog dies after the ten day period and I feel so sick. It’s hard to believe anyone could be so evil, to make a business out of pain. In one store, I asked to see an Italian Greyhound puppy and pretended to be a buyer and the little guy smelled so horrible (eight weeks old at the time I held him, how long had he been there, shipped from a puppy mill in Missouri?) and the saleswoman assured me that if I wanted to I could breed him all I wanted and have registered puppies. Just evil. When I asked about possible health problems, she referred me to their return policy and insurance program. I had to get out of there; I thought I might throw up on her, or beat her senseless and she was only part of the problem. The store was full of people cooing and shopping.
It’s so overwhelming.
When I worked at the shelter it just killed me how many one year old dogs came in after having been tossed into the backyard after they stopped being cute and the owners decided to move on to another distraction. Or dogs who’ve been in the backyard for all their lives and are only surrendered when they’ve acquired a lifetime of bad habits, bad hips, thyroids, and other things that make people walk quickly past their adoption kennel to see the dogs with futures.
alisam, is the pet store next to Kyoto’s ok? I was wondering because I work at the Sally Beauty Supply next to it and often go there to get my Shih-Tzu’s nails clipped. I have never looked around the store much, and being that I am not an animal expert, I can’t really tell if it is negligent or not. However, I don’t want to trust my Java’s nails to someone who can’t take care of their animals.
P.S. Next time I am at the other pet store, I will inform them that although they have the best prices on frozen dog food, I will no longer be purchasing it from them. Then I will inform them why.
P.S. By chance are you the lady who came into Sally’s and had a long conversation with me about petstores that mistreat animals and why we refuse to go? Just wondering.
Go Alisa! 
I hope that the store eventually sees the light. I second the suggestion of going to the media - usually that’s more helpful since the humane societies tend to be more involved with cats and dogs, as you said.
For the dog food record: The best dog foods on the market are never found at the large chain stores because the manufacturers simply couldn’t meet that quantity demand NOR would the stores actually sell enough of it to make a profit. For example, I feed Innova, and can only find it at small, locally owned and run, high-end pet stores (none of which sell animals - just high quality supplies and food). I used to feed Fromm, and they would ship the food (no cost for shipping) on a schedule if you couldn’t buy it locally. I believe only three stores in Ottawa carried it, and I was lucky one was a 20 minute walk from my place!
lno and I are super lucky - we have a great feed store nearby that specialises in bird feeders and seeds (for wildlife, that is) and carries a wide variety of high-end dog and cat food. They’re also within walking distance, and one of the 4 stores in the Twin Cities who carries our dog food! I would much rather support the local guy than the big chain!
Wufs and wags - and good luck with the birds!
Elly and the hounds.
I don’t go to pet stores. Not since rescuing dying kittens from a pet store that shall remain nameless, bu that has “Super” in its name. They had “acquired” kittens that were too young and were not weaned. They were dehydrated and dying from starvation, since mom cat wasn’t around to provide nourishing milk.
The staff said: “Well, they won’t eat their kibble! What are we supposed to do?”
The kittens were too young to eat kibble, they were still supposed to be drinking mothers milk.
It is very rare for me to go into a pet store because almost every time I do, I see animals in distress and staff that has little to no training, so don’t even recognize that the animals is in distress.
I support feeding dogs and cats on a whole foods diet. They are carnivores so feed them whatever’s cheap at the meat market. Little bones should be removed in case of choking. While they do occasionally eat some small vegetable material, foods like Beneful and othe soy based dog and cat foods are TERRIBLE for your animal. I feed natural choice kibble/soft food to the dogs and toss them beef whenever it’s cheap. The american Eskimo dog, (think a small all white husky) is Fond of fish so she gets some of that <skins and excess meat> when I cook it. Chicken and pork scraps are always cooked before being put in the bowl. The little dog, (Peek-a-poo) had kidney problems which cleared right up after changing her diet to this system. If you search around on the net you can find a lot of breeders who feed like this. It’s a healthy alternative, and gets the money out of corporate hands for the most part.